The joy of books enthralled 4-year-old Olivia Stipe during her visit Thursday to the Johnson County Public Library’s Antioch Branch in Merriam. But a pending federal rule is worrying librarians nationwide. TAMMY LJUNGBLADFrom Kansas City Star:
Toys with dangerous levels of lead, toxic chemicals in clothing, hazardous baby cribs — the soon-to-be-enforced Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act aims to protect children from all of them.
But library books?
Unless the Consumer Product Safety Commission exempts them from the sweeping legislation, libraries nationwide could be forced to pull children’s books from their shelves or, alternately, ban children.
That would put roughly 2 million public library books — plus children’s books in school libraries — in the Kansas City area out of commission unless each volume was tested for lead, an unrealistic possibility.
“You’re talking about separating children from books, which has got to be the most ridiculous thing this commission has ever attempted,” said Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the American Library Association’s Washington office.
“Books are safe. They are not a dangerous product.”
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